Culture & Entertainment

4 We Day California 2016 highlights

Culture & Entertainment

4 We Day California 2016 highlights

Guest post by Ashley Posluns Yesterday was an unreal day in Inglewood, California. About 16,000 students came together to celebrate a year’s worth of work helping their local and global communities at California’s first ever We Day. It being in LA, it was perhaps the most star-studded We Day ever, with celebs like Demi Lovato, Charlize Theron and Kermit the Frog showing up to cheer on students’ good deeds. We Day, which Canadian Living has partnered with for nearly 12 years, is all about recognizing youth who are making a difference in their communities, and educating them about how they can change the world. Yesterday’s speakers talked to students about clean water, cultural appropriation, the plight of disappearing bees and how to become more eco-friendly. It was a day of showing how powerful words really are. Here are some of the highlights from the show: 1. Seth Rogen explained how he, as a “lazy man-child,” became motivated to start his own charitable organization,
Hilarity for Charity (HFC), which has the mission of raising awareness for Alzheimer’s disease among the millennial generation.
2. Young Canadian actor Jacob Tremblay, star of
Room, proved to the crowd of students that age is just a number—they should all go after their dreams no matter what. And the cutest We Day guest? Tremblay’s adorable date: a new puppy!
3. Zooey Deschanel and Kermit the Frog shared the stage and encouraged the students to participate in a big group hug, adding a little lighthearted fun to the day. Kermit also spent much of the day live-tweeting about how much fun he was having.
4. Several student activists were recognized at We Day California for creating their own charities or advocating for something they believe in. For example, teenage skiers Corrine Hindes and Katrine Kirsebom
started an organization that takes hats and gloves from ski resorts’ lost and found boxes and donates them to homeless people in Northern California. You can catch the broadcast of We Day California on August 28 at 7pm ET/6pm CT on ABC. Meet our
2015 Me to We Award winners.
Photography by Frederick M. Brown and Mike Windle (Getty Images)